The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-08-27

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simply of ideas, principles, truths, sem
timents, and that was declared to be
within the mind and heartfelt him go
and preach it to silly women Were
they not men with too much sbrewd-
ness and judgment to be caught with
such chaffp And yet, now that nigh
1000 years have gone, how stands the
case ? Which do we see to have been
| right, the prophet of religion, who pro-
claimed kingdom of the soul, or they
who could see nothing strong or endur-
ing, or worthy of regard, but that which
appealed to the eye and the ear, and
the physical senses of men? Alas in
a few brief years every vestige Of He
rods kingdom was gone. Rome stood
longer, but in spite of her unparalleled
strength, she too fell. And all these
eighteen centuries since the prophets
voice was heard, have been full of the
noise of topping thrones and the wrecks
of kingdoms, empires, dynasties. But
how about that kingdom of the spirit
of which Jesus spoke ? Has it faded
or failed? Not SO. Steadily has it
strengthened century by century has
its dominion widened never was it so
| powerful, and never were its founda-
tions so firm as to-day. Amidst world
of change it has proved the one endur-
ing reality.
I'm vain the surge's angry shock,
In vain the drifting sands;
Unframed upon the Eternal Rock,
The Eternal Kingdom stands"
Truly, indeed, the things that are
seen are temporal; the things that are
not seen are eternal. Verify, the solid
things are not those which we hear
and see and taste and handle. The
solid things are those of the soul. Re-
ligion builds upon what cannot be sha-
ken, because she builds upon what is
deepest in the nature of man.
And this, too, is why she can supply
mans deep and permanent needs, as
nothing else can.
What are the deepest and most per-
manent needs of man as he journeys
through the land of earth 4? OF course
he must have food to eat and water to
drink by the way, and clothing and
shelter to protect him from the cold.
These are essential, for without these
he dies. But these alone, and every
thing else on the plane with these, sat-
isfy the wants of only the brute beast in
him. Is he only brute beast ? Has he
no wants other than the OK or the tiger?
All, there is higher side to this nat
ure which has its needs as deep and i'm
perative as those of his body. He was
made to think, and feel, and hope, and
love, and will, and pray; to cherish
truth, to obey reason, to champion
right; to care for his fellow-men, to
help every good cause to abhor evil,
to spurn wrong; to aspire after that
which is above him, to love nature, to
walk joyfully and holly through the
world, to keep his heart full of patience
and trust to the end, and when the
evening of his life's day comes,
approach his grave
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him and lies down to pleasant dreams"
But where is he to get help to do all
this Yet his need for all this is quite
as great as his need for food or drink or
shelter for his body. For what could
compensate if he should feed the ami
NAL in him and let the angel starve?
To be sure, in this world of so sore
poverty and physical want and physical
suffering, it is great problem how to
supply adequately the bodily needs of
the poor. The Importance of this should
not be overlooked. And yet the larger,
deeper, graver problem is how to sup
ply the spiritual wants of both poor
and rich. For, oh how much ignor-
ance, fear, sorrow, disappointment,
pain, heartbreak, despair, sin, lust,
greed, cruelty, pride, profanity, hate,
misery and evil in ten thousand forms
is to be seen all up and down the world,
among rich and poor alike And where
is this spiritual want and misery to find
relief?
When man is hungry with that hun
ger which is of the soul, and which
physical bread only mocks; when he
thirsts with thirst which the things of
sense cannot quench or touch when he
is tired, so that no bed can rest him,
weary in mind and heart, tired of life
itself when hope fails when strength
is gone; when courage departs; when
the currents of human friendship and
love freeze; when sorrow and disap-
pointment fall upon him and break his
heart when bereavement and death
stand coldly, bitterly in his path and
must be met; and saddest and most
terrible of all, when temptations to evil
roll over him like pillows and sweep
him under; and when sin, like body
of death, fastens itself on him, drag
ging him down, down, with resolves
broken, desire baffled, will enfeebled,
down, down-then, then, where is help to